Unveiling the MB&F HM8 in Dubai’s M.A.D Gallery

Posted by WatchAnish onOctober 2, 2016 at 8:31 pm

Every once in a while MB&F releases a new creation. And I’m sure to say this without even checking my facts, they release a lot more watches than 99% of independent brands do (while producing a lot less). And I’m not talking about limited edition this, or special edition that, black dial, blue dial, orange strap on green buckle National Rugby Team of Liechtenstein edition or anything like that. I mean truly different watches. With different casings, different designs, different ways of telling time. MB&F always was and still remains a simply genius blend of alien, steampunk and actually pretty wearable. This sunny afternoon in Dubai was no exception, when we had the chance to unveil the all new Horological Machine n8 (or HM8) to the local collectors and fellow bloggers, together with M.A.D Gallery Dubai.

Now before we get to the actual watch review, here are some pics of how the event went down.

Many collectors from Dubai and the whole Dubai Watch Club squad showed up, and we all shared a great evening of talking watches, married life and trying to survive while juggling both.

One watch we all talked about was of course the just released HM8. Now, if you’re wondering ‘How in the world did I miss out on the HM7?!’ – You didn’t. Technically this is number 7, but the reason it’s called HM8 is because it combines the time-telling technique of HM5 (with the optical illusion and reflections) and case shape aesthetics of an HM3. HM5+HM3 = HM8. Not the hardest equation we had to solve. But a very logical one.

To us, HM8 represents both of the worlds from the HM3 and HM5 models, and is sort of a perfectly refined combination of both. All thanks to Max Busser’s favourite watch designer and friend – Eric Giroud. The man responsible for (this is gonna take a while now) : HM1, HM1 The Genesis, HM2, HM2 Ceramic, HM3 Starcruiser, HM3 Sidewinder, HM3 Frog, HM4 Thunderbolt, HM5, HMX, HM6, HM6 Sapphire Version, LM1, LM101, LM101 Frost, LM2, LM Perpetual, and now the HM8! And that’s not even the full list… Apart from MB&F he has worked on tens of other famous watch models, including the incredible Opus 11. No idea how he does it, but it seems to work really damn well. Probably a secret hyper space connection to an alien race, or simply an amazing imagination.

Now, the HM8 comes in two different colour/material versions. There’s the White Gold/Titanium, which seems to do the trick for me with its classier stone cold look. And there’s the Rose Gold/Titanium, which seems to have more going on in terms of colours (black strap, rose gold/titanium case, and blue rotor) and looks more MB&F’ish overall. Both pieces house a similar movement to the HM5 but completely flipped and re-imagined to make the rotor appear on the upper side, and both go for roughly $80’000. We’ve also had some time to play around with the watches during our photoshoot the next day, so tune in tomorrow for more!